Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers
on Civil Works Activities
Fiscal Year 1978
Department of the Army Corps of Engineers
Extract Report of Walla Walla District
Little Goose Lock and Dam - Lake Bryan, Washington
Location. Dam is 70.3 miles above mouth of Snake River at head of Herbert G. West Lake (Lower Monumental Reservoir), about 40 airline miles northerly of Walla Walla, Washington, and 50 miles westerly of Lewiston, Idaho.
Existing project. See table 39-B for authorizing legislation. The project includes a dam, powerplant, navigation lock, fish ladder, and appurtenant facilities. Project provides for navigation, hydroelectric power generation, recreation, and incidental irrigation. The reservoir has a normal operating range between Elevations 638 and 633 Mean Sea Level (MSL). Lake Bryan extends upstream about 37.2 miles and provides slackwater to Lower Granite Lock and Dam. Dam structure is 2,670 feet long and about 160 feet high above streambed and consists of a powerhouse, spillway dam, navigation lock, and necessary non-overflow sections. Fish passage facilities include one ladder with entrances on both shores, with a fish channel through the spillway that connects to the powerhouse fish collection system and south shore ladder. Powerhouse now has six 135,000-kilowatt generating units in operation, for a capacity of 810,000 kilowatts. Spillway dam can pass a design flood of 850,000 cubic feet per second. Navigation lock is single-lift type with clear plan dimensions of 86 feet by 668 feet and 15-foot minimum depth over the sills. Relocations along the lake included 32 miles of Camas Prairie Railroad, 5.8 miles of county roads, 2.2 miles of state highways, and Central Ferry Bridge. Principal project data are set forth in table 39-H.
Estimated cost for new work (October 1978) is $219,702,215 consisting of $160,413,215 for the completed project, $58,900,000 (full funding) for power units 4 through 6, $87,000 for U.S. Coast Guard navigation aids, and $302,000 for value of publicly-owned lands.
Local cooperation. None required.
Operations and results during fiscal year. Contract for installation of additional power units continuing. Contract awarded to modify and improve the fingerling bypass and collection system. The collection system will trap and hold downstream fingerling migrants in order to transport them around the downstream dams. Transporting fingerlings has proven very successful and will become a permanent function.
Operation and Maintenance: Normal operation and maintenance continued. Contract awarded for navigation lock foundation grouting and monolith repair, and was completed. A total of 3.19 billion kilowatt hours of electric energy was delivered to Bonneville Power Administration, the marketing agency. A total of 1,799,123 tons of cargo passed through the navigation lock during calendar year 1977.
Condition at end of fiscal year. Construction began June 1963 and the project was opened to navigation May 1970. Recreational facilities along Lake Bryan are 100 percent complete, the initial project is 100 percent complete, and installation of power units 4 through 6 is 90 percent complete.
Remaining items of work consist of providing landscaping and visitor facilities at the dam, modifying the fish facilities, and to complete installing power generating units 4 through 6. A final Environmental Impact Statement was filed with the Council on Environmental Quality on 8 January 1975.
Power generation through September 1978 has been 21.59 billion kilowatt hours, representing a gross income of $33.0 million to the U.S. Treasury from sale of power by Bonneville Power Administration.